Bathing caps



Dec. 13, 1955 H. E. COOPER BATHING CAPS Filed Feb. 1, 1952 INVENTOR. AM/Pfi) E. 600/ 51? AT TORNEY United States Patent 0 BATHING CAPS Harry E. Cooper, Pelham, N. Y., assignor to United States Rubber Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Jersey Application February 1, 1952, Serial No. 269,505

1 Claim. (Cl. 2-68) This invention relates to bathing caps or swim caps adapted to keep the hair dry when the wearer is in bathing, and which is provided with an elastic textile outer fabric that fits the head closely and is more pleasing in appearance than the ordinary rubber bathing cap.

This application is a continuation-in-partof my copending U. S. application Serial No. 219,935 filed April 9, 1951, now abandoned.

By employing the construction of the present invention it is possible to provide a snug fitting bathing cap which will match perfectly in appearance and feel the textile fabric of the bathing suit a bather is wearing, or the bathing cap may have its outer surface formed of any one of a number of elastic textile fabrics of pleasing appearance. Since such textile fabric will not perform the primary function of a bathing cap, which is to keep the hair dry, it is important to provide such textile cap with an inner lining formed of rubber or other watertight stretchable material that will keep the hair dry.

It is desirable that bathing caps be stretchable throughout so that they will conform accurately to the shape of the head and fit the head snugly. The present invention therefore contemplates that the textile outer 'portion of the bathing cap shall be made of elastic material that is capable of stretching one way or two ways as'desired. Such elastic fabric may be woven, knitted, netted or otherwise constructed, and the cap made of this elastic fabric should have a substantial amount of stretch in all directions so that when it is pulled down over the head it will fit the head snugly but comfortably. In order to give this textile fabric portion of the cap the approximate shape of the head of the wearer, the elastic fabric of which this portion of the cap is made is preferably cut into cap sections or segments of the desired shape. These sections are then sewed together with a well known type of loop stitch that will not interfere appreciably with the stretch of the fabric seams.

The outer elastic portion of the cap just described, as formed of stretchable textile fabric that fits the head snugly, will not keep the head dry, and if it is attempted to coat the inner face of such fabric so as to form a water-tight cap, various problems are involved, as the coating will increase the stiffness of the textile fabric and change its hand or feel. The outer fabric portion of the cap is therefore provided, in accordance with the present invention, with a separately constructed watertight elastic lining formed of rubber or the like and which is preferably secured to the fabric portion of the cap only adjacent the inner edge of the bathing cap.

A fabric outer wall bathing cap constructed as herein contemplated may be provided with a finished edge by simply folding a marginal portion of the textile outer fabric inwardly around the lower edge of the elastic lining, and by bonding the textile fabric to such lining at the edge portion of the bathing cap.

Many bathing caps now on the market are provided with specially shaped ribs and shallow cups at the inner face of the cap adjacent its marginal edge to help prevent water from working inside of the cap around its edge and wetting the hair. The cap of the present invention may be provided with similar water-excluding ribs or shallow cups, or if desired it may be provided with a strip of water-impervious sponge rubber secured to the cap around its inner edge portion, to provide a soft yielding pad that will help exclude water from the hair.

The above and other features of the present invention will be further understood from the following description'when read in connection with the accompanying drawing; wherein Fig. 1 is a side view'of a persons head and shows thereon one embodiment of a bathing cap constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. l;

Fig.' 3 is asectional view taken on the line of 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a front view of the cap of Fig. 1 and illustrates the direction of stretch of the different sections forming the outer fabric wall of the cap; and

Fig. 5 is a three-quarter back view of the cap shown in Fig. 4.

As above stated, the present invention contemplates a snug fitting bathing cap or swim cap having a textile outer wall and water-impervious lining. The outer portion of the cap can be formed of woven or knit elastic fabric capable of stretching in one or two directions, or the fabric forming the outer portion of the cap may be Shirred with elastic yarn to make this portion of the cap stretchable. The fabric used however should have a substantial range of stretch and good elastic properties.

The cap illustrated in the drawing has the outer fabric portions thereof formed of a one-Way stretch woven elastic fabric, and the different portions of the cap are so cut from the one-way stretch fabric as to produce, when sewed together, a fabric outer Wall cap capable of stretching in various directions and adapted to fit the head snugly. if the cap of the present invention is formed of two-way stretch fabric, then less care need be exercised in cutting the cap forming sections, for all that is necessary is to so out such sections that when they are sewed together they will form an elastic cap that will conform snugly to the head of the wearer.

The cap shown in the drawing has its outer Wall formed of the portions 10 and 11 of textile fabric such as woven fabric having elastic yarns extending in one direction thereof to impart thereto the desired stretch. The portion 10, as will be seen from the drawing forms the front and side portions of the cap. The rear portion of the cap is formed of the cap portion 11 shaped to cover the rear portion of the head, and the directions of stretch of the portions 1b and 11 of the cap are indicated by the arrows in Figs. 4 and 5, wherein it will be seen that when the sections it; and 11 of the cap are sewed together along the seam 12 the cap will stretch in all directions as will be apparent from Figs. 4 and 5. The seam 12 curves entirely around the back portion of the head as shown, and is preferably formed with a loop type of stitch that will not interfere appreciably with the stretch of the fabrics.

The stretchable fabric outer wall of the cap fits the head snugly as shown in the drawing, and may be formed of the same textile fabric as the bathing suit worn with such cap so that the cap and bathing suit will match perfectly in appearance, or such bathing cap may be formed of any other stretchable textile fabric of pleasing appearance. The textile fabric cap so far described is porous and will not keep the head dry, and in order to keep the'hair dry the fabric cap formed of the sections 10 and 11 is preferably provided with a stretchable lining 13 formed of rubber or other stretchable waterproof material. Such lining 13 is shaped to fit the head accurately and is preferably secured to the fabric portion of the cap only at the edge portion of the bathing cap as best shown in Fig. 3, where it will be seen that the lower edge portion of the elastic fabric is folded inwardly and around the lower edge portion of the lining 13 and is adhesively secured to such lining as indicated at 14.

As a result of the construction just described, the outer fabric portion of the bathing cap formed of the sections 10 and 11 may be made by a garment worker, whereas the rubber inner lining 13 may be produced by a molding or dipping operation by the manufacture of rubber goods. The outer fabric portion of the cap and rubber lining may be readily joined by a cementing operation that cements the edge portion of the elastic fabric of the cap about the edge portion of the rubber lining 13 as above mentioned. This completes the operation of forming the cap except for providing the cap with the usual snap fasteners 15 adapted to receive the chin strap 16.

In manufacturing the cap of the present invention it is preferable to increase its ability to keep the hair dry by providing at the inner surface thereof adjacent the edge of the cap a water excluding strip 17 of well known construction which is adhesively secured to the foldedin portion 14 of the cap and to a portion of the rubber lining 13 as shown in Fig. 3. This strip 17 preferably extends entirely around the inner marginal portion of the cap as shown in the drawing.

When the cap contemplated by the present invention is worn in bathing, water will penetrate through the elastic fabric forming the outer wall of the cap, but will be prevented by the inner r-ubber lining 13 from wetting the hair, and since the outer fabric portion of the cap and inner lining are elastic, they will both fit the head snugly and objectionable pockets of water are not likely to form between the outer fabric wall 10, 11 and inner lining 13 of the cap. After the cap of the present invention has been worn in bathing it will dry quickly if the lining 13 is pulled well away from the crown of the cap to" permit air to pass freely through the textile fabric It will be seen from the foregoing that as a result of the present invention a water-tight bathing cap adapted to keep the hair dry is provided which has the appearance at its outer side of any desired fabric that may match perfectly in appearance or make a pleasing ensemble with the fabric forming the bathing suit worn with such cap.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

A non-reversible water-tight bathing cap that conforms closely to the contour of the head and has an outer wall of textile fabric, comprising a textile outer cap portion formed of elastic textile fabric, said outer cap portion containing elastic strands, the front and side portions of said outer cap portion having elastic strands adapted to stretch vertically of the wearers head when the cap is worn, the back portion of said outer cap fabric containing elastic strands adapted to stretch transversely of the wearers head when the cap is worn; and an elastic water-tight inner lining for'said cap shaped to enclose a wearers head, said. inner lining being unattached to the outer elastic fabric throughout most of the area thereof, a marginal portion of the textile outer fabric being secured to the water-tight inner lining adjacent the lower edge of the lining, whereby the bathing cap has the outer surface appearance and feel of textile fabric and is form fitting and water-tight.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 620,776 Holzenthaler Mar. 7, 1899 655,481 Evans Aug. 7, 1900 1,050,310 Steinberg et a1 Jan. 14, 1913 1,172,927 Bloch Feb. 28, 1916 1,798,024 McBride Mar. 24, 1931 1,808,681 Rayburn June 2, 1931 1,926,937 De Wet Sept. 12, 1933 1,931,486 Casey Oct. 24, 1933 2,579,089 Price Dec. 18, 1951 

